by Vince Lewis
New Zealand based luthier Richard Ralston has been building archtop guitars since 2004. We first became connected by email in early 2007 and began discussing his various projects. He is also teaching roughly 50 private guitar students per week. His father Ian is a violinist and instrument builder. Rich grew up in his father’s shop where he currently spends much of his time refining jazz guitar designs and features. After becoming long distance comrades in music, Rich asked if I would like to try one of his guitars on for size.
The instrument that I am evaluating here is his 5th completed guitar. There have been some changes to the original guitar due to an odyssey through the past several months. The guitar was actually completed and shipped to me in August of this year. It was first held up in US Customs, and then delivered with a totally destroyed headstock. The pickguard and pickup had also broken off and damaged the finish and dented the guitar quite a bit.
After discussing our options, Rich agreed to a restoration / repair here in the US. I drove the guitar to Roger Morillo, a wonderful luthier and resident repair person at Fret and Fiddle Vintage Guitars in St. Albans, WV. After deciding upon a solid course of action, Rich completed a replacement neck and shipped it to Roger for installation.
This guitar is pictured in its original condition at www.ralstonguitars.com. It has been modified with a custom built rosewood bridge, ivory nut and lacquer finish. Due to the amount of scratching of the top Morillo recommended a total refinish in a light honey color. The result is truly outstanding.
The first thing that jumps out is the high quality of the all solid wood used in this instrument. The top is tightly grained European spruce and is tap tuned. The sides and back are highly flamed European Maple, and the back is also tap tuned. The neck is a beautiful five piece, with flamed maple alternating with ebony strips. The headstock has thick walnut veneer on the top layered with ebony and a burled overlay on the back.
The workmanship is amazingly clean inside and out. The neck is raised completely free of the top. This is a violin technique and allows the entire top to vibrate more freely. It is a unique feature, but seems to be very effective. It also meant that the removal and replacement of the neck was a very easy process. The body is bound with multiple flame maple with the grain matching the sides, for a totally elegant touch. The f holes are also multiple wood bound.
The acoustic sound of the Ralston is strong and full. The neck is fairly large, but is still quite comfortable to play. The ebony fingerboard is slick and beautiful with medium frets. It was easy to adjust the action to very low with no buzzing issues.
Ralston uses the standard Kent Armstrong suspended pickup mounted to the pick guard. There is a single volume control mounted under the guard. This pickup is not my personal first choice, but there are several options that can be substituted upon request.
Ralston offers a finish either in French polish or Waterborne lacquer. The tailpiece and finger rest can be altered to suit the requirements of the player. A tone control can also be added on request as can an acoustic pickup (e.g. K and K Sound Pure Archtop). This guitar has outstanding acoustic / electric capability and responsiveness.
In summation, Richard Ralston produces an affordable professional and investment quality instrument. This is solid hand carved guitar with the price point of most laminates. Ralston’s stated objective is to build reasonably priced great sounding and attractive instruments. With all of the features and quality of workmanship offered here I would expect a substantial cost to go with them. The guitar that I tested has a current retail of $2970.00 (U.S.). It compares very favorably to any hand carved archtops that I have played that are much higher priced. It also has permanently joined my personal collection of custom built jazz guitars.
Contact Ralston at:
Richard Ralston/Ralston Guitars
23 Shakespeare Avenue
Upper Hutt 5018
New Zealand Telephone: +64 4 976 7231
Mobile: +64 21 032 9659
Email: richard@ralstonguitars.com
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Publisher’s Note: Guitar International has received no compensation from Richard Ralston Guitars associated with the above review.
